According to reports in The Globe and Mail and BetaKit, the saga made it difficult to move forward with the next phase of 500 Canada, where it had a profit-sharing relationship. The firm was in the process of raising a $30 million fund, having already closed an initial $15 million commitment, but it is reported to have received pushback from LPs who were concerned that McClure would still be involved.

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500 Startups provided us with the following statement:

“We remain bullish on Canada’s startup ecosystem and deal flow. It’s why we invested in Canada before the 500 Canada fund, and why we will continue to do so going forward. Though this partnership didn’t work out, we are thankful to the LPs who supported the fund, and we look forward to continuing to support our 60+ investments in Canada and investing in more Canadian companies.”

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McClure’s image is closely tied to 500 Startups, so it is easy to imagine that his tarnished reputation will have a knock-on effect among the firm’s portfolio, LPs and prospective partners. Meanwhile, 500 Startups continues to tout its diversity stats, which are better than the industry average — 67 percent of the managing partners and 44 percent of the wider 500 Startups team are women, according to its website.

Roger Stringer spends most of his time solving problems for people, and otherwise occupying himself with being a dad, cooking, speaking, learning, writing, reading, and the overall pursuit of life. He lives in Penticton, British Columbia, Canada